Will Tom Craddick be House speaker for the 81st session? He’s filed his paperwork to run again, but after a disastrous session and the election losses of several close allies, reps are lining up to oust him. Accord­ing to the Texas Ethics Commission, as of Nov. 10, nine candidates had officially filed to run. Four Republicans (including Craddick) and five Democrats were in, but no consensus candidate has emerged. (There’s still time: The vote won’t come until the first day of the session, Jan. 13.) The decision may rest with the Craddick Ds – the 14 Dems who voted for him last session. While most have publicly broken with him since, Craddick has also made a gain: returning conservative Democrat Al Edwards, who got his old HD 146 seat back from one-termer Borris Miles during the primaries. Mean­while, Craddick loyalist Kino Flores, D-Palm­view, has other concerns: The House Licens­ing and Administration Committee chairman is being investigated by the Travis Co. district attorney over claims he illegally received free flights from racetrack owners.

House Speaker
Candidates (So Far)

Republican

Tom Craddick
(Midland)

Delwin Jones
(Lubbock)

James L. Keffer
(Eastland)

Tommy Merritt
(Longview)

Democrat

Pete Gallego
(Alpine)

Scott Hochberg
(Houston)

Senfronia Thompson
(Houston)

Allan Ritter
(Nederland)

Sylvester Turner
(Houston)

This article appears in November 14 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.